Details Released: FBI's Most-Wanted MS-13 Member Caused NJ Murder

Walter Yovany-Gomez, a/k/a “Cholo,” was an MS-13 member named as one of the FBI’s 10 most-wanted fugitives. He killed a New Jersey man on behalf of the gang, and then agreed to have a conspirator commit multiple violent acts for the gang.

During the attack, Yovany-Gomez struck the victim in the head with an aluminum baseball bat, sliced his throat with a knife and stabbed the New Jersey man in the back 17 times with a screwdriver. Yovany-Gomez then threatened to harm the individual who witnessed the murder if that person went to the police, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office release.

Now Yovany-Gomez, 35, once a fugitive who hid in the Maryland/Virginia area, has met his fate after a decade on the run following the brutal attack.

Yovany-Gomez was sentenced this week to 300 months in prison after committing "a vicious murder" of a Plainfield man and conspiring with another MS-13 member to "commit further acts of violence,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said.

Yovany-Gomez previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler to a charge of racketeering conspiracy.

“When he fled New Jersey and became a fugitive, our partners at the FBI diligently pursued and eventually captured him," said Carpenito. The "sentence ensures that he will now remain behind bars for a substantial period of time, thus preserving the safety of the community and punishing him appropriately for his actions.”

According to documents filed in this and other cases and statements made in court:

In September 2013, a Newark grand jury indicted Yovany-Gomez for murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office release.

Yovany-Gomez was accused in an indictment that charged 14 members of Plainfield Locos Salvatrucha (PLS), a New Jersey branch of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) transnational gang, with various gang-related offenses.

The charges against Yovany-Gomez focused on the May 2011 murder of Julio Matute, whom law enforcement officers discovered beaten and stabbed to death in Matute’s Plainfield apartment, according to the release. Yovany-Gomez fled New Jersey after officers went to Yovany-Gomez’s residence to question him.

In April 2017, the FBI placed Yovany-Gomez on its 10 most-wanted fugitives list. On Aug. 12, 2017, he was arrested without incident in Woodbridge, Va., based on tips received from the public, according to the release.

In May 2011, MS-13 leaders, members, and associates, including Yovany-Gomez, plotted to murder Matute, a PLS recruit, because they believed Matute had been socializing with rival gang members, according to the release.

On May 8, 2011, Yovany-Gomez and fellow MS-13 member Cruz Flores, a/k/a “Bruja” traveled to Matute’s Plainfield apartment to carry out the murder, meeting Matute and another individual at the residence, according to the release.

Matute was murdered after consuming alcohol and controlled substances, and then retiring to his bedroom to sleep. When Matute attempted to leave the apartment several hours later for work, Yovany-Gomez and Flores assaulted and killed Matute, according to the release.

Several weeks after the murder, officers went to question Yovany-Gomez at his residence. When they knocked on his door, Yovany-Gomez jumped out of a second-floor window and fled, according to the release.

PLS members and associates later drove Yovany-Gomez to the Maryland/Virginia area so he could avoid being arrested and prosecuted in connection with the murder. Yovany-Gomez remained in the Maryland/Virginia area until his arrest in August 2017, adopting an alias to further avoid law enforcement detection, according to the release.

In addition to the Matute murder, Yovany-Gomez agreed as part of the racketeering conspiracy that another conspirator would commit multiple acts of violence on behalf of MS-13.

Between 2014 and 2016, all 13 of Yovany-Gomez’s co-defendants charged in the September 2013 federal indictment were convicted, including eight MS-13 members who were convicted following a 16-week trial that ended in June 2016, according to the release.

“Walter Yovany-Gomez thought he could steal someone’s life and escape unscathed. He obviously underestimated the men and women of the FBI,” Special Agent-in-Charge Gregoy W. Ehrie, FBI-Newark, said. “Members of blood-thirsty gangs, like MS-13, who devalue life as part of their business model, need to know that our life’s work is dedicated to keeping our citizens safe and we won't rest until we accomplish that mission.”